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US stock market daily report. (November 18, 2009, Wednesday)

Contributed by Paddy Power Trader

By Paddy Power Trader

Obama said that too much debt could hurt confidence and may lead to double dip recession in the US economy, adding that he sees US GDP growth in Q4 but job growth lagging. Obama also said that China forex reforms are to help on trade imbalances and US is willing to boost high-tech exports to China. (RTRS/Fox/ Sources)

Many banks are facing possible multi-notch downgrades to their hybrid bonds following the change in the methodology used by Moody’s Investors Services. The ratings agency yesterday confirmed a new system would take account of a wider range of factors and said it would announce within two days which hybrids would be put on review for downgrade. (FT)

Wall street

Boeing – First co.s’ 747-8 Freighter leaves paint hangar and will begin preparing for the necessary tests leading up to first flight in early 2010. (Sources)

United Technologies – Co.’s Carrier Corp. acquires the controls business of i2S Group and i2S Service, the terms of the deal were not disclosed. (BBG)

American Express – Co. to acquire Revolution Money for USD 300mln to develop next generation payment products. (BBG)

GE – Co. exec sees overall appliance sales up 3-5% in 2010. (RTRS)

Kraft Foods – Chocolate maker Hershey and Ferrero are considering a joint bid for Cadbury that could help the British confectioner fend off a hostile takeover by co.. (RTRS) However Ferrero is understood to be divided about a possible bid for co. or a plan to tie-up with UK confectioner. The head of family which own Ferrero is keen to keep business independent while his sons may be more eager to get involved with Cadbury and are talking to investment bankers about their options. (Times)

Companies going ex-dividend: United Technologies (USD 0.3850), 3M Company  (USD 0.5100)

S&P500

Goldman Sachs – Co. and Buffett start USD 500mln program to aid small US businesses. (BBG)

Wells Fargo – Co. in USD 1.3bln ARS pact with state securities regulators. (BBG)

Pfizer – Co. announced it has submitted pediatric data for Lipitor to the European Medicines Agency, or EMEA. Co. has also developed a new chewable form of Lipitor, including a pediatric-appropriate 5 mg dose, which is part of this submission. (BBG/RTRS)

Genzyme – Co. reported results of a phase 2/3 study of its advanced phosphate binder, or APB. The trial met its primary endpoint, which was to show that the APB lowered phosphate levels effectively compared to placebo. However, the APB did not show a significant improvement in phosphate lowering compared to co.’s Renvela (sevelamer carbonate). Based on these results, the company is not planning to pursue further clinical development of the APB. (BBG)

Medtronic – Co. receives FDA warning letter following inspection of its Mounds view, Minn. facility. Says will respond to letter within 15 days and co. has begun to implement changes and put procedures in place related to observations of FDA. (BBG/RTRS)

Marathon Oil – Co. announced on October 28 2009, that the co.’s board of directors declared a dividend of USD 0.24 per share on co.’s common stock. The dividend is payable December 10 2009, to stockholders of record on November 18 2009. In connection with co.’s Acquisition of Western Oil Sands Inc. and the terms of the provisions applicable to the exchangeable shares, the ratio at which exchangeable shares may be exchanged for shares of co.’s common stock is subject to adjustment to account for cash dividends paid on co.’s common stocks that are not matched by dividends paid to holders of the exchangeable shares. (BBG/RTRS)

Retailers – Fitch say increased stability expected in 2010 for US retail. (BBG)

AMD – Co. today announced the flagship instalment in the award-winning line of graphic cards, the ATI Radeon HD 5970, the fastest card ever created. The new ultra high-end model joins a growing list of the world’s first and only graphic cards to fully support Microsoft DirectX 11 technology and ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology. In other news, co. sees FY 2010 depreciation/amortization expense USD 340-370mln. Furthermore, co. reports private offering of USD 500mln of sr notes. (Yahoo Finance/BBG)

Companies going ex-dividend: Honeywell International Inc (USD 0.30250), Whirlpool Corp (USD 0.43000)

NASDAQ

Apple –  South Korea’s telecommunications regulator cleared the way for the launch of co.’s iPhone amide reports the hit device could reach consumers late next week. (AP) Also, AT&T said it is seeing better adoption for iPhone in business. (BBG)

Microsoft – A court in China has ordered co. to stop selling versions of its Windows operating system that include fonts designed by a Chinese company. The ruling says co. has violated the scope of licensing deals between Zhongyi Electronic. (BBC News)

Google – A source says that HTC is building the new co.-branded phone, but others say co. is working with LG or Samsung on the phone. Co. is also reportedly planning a big advertising push early next year around the device. Also in the news, co. is planning to hold a special Chrome OS event at its headquarters in Mountain View, CA this Thursday morning. The plan is to give a “complete overview” of the new OS, which they say will launch next year. (TechCrunch)

Intel – European regulators made procedural errors procedural errors in their anti-trust investigation of co. said EU’s ombudsman. However ombudsman’s opinion is not expected to affect commissions EUR 1.06bln anti-trust fine against co. (RTRS)

Starbucks – Co. raises prices on some drinks in Chicago area, lowers some others. The price hikes affect larger more complex drinks while smaller drinks prices will be lower. (Chicago Tribune)

Activision Blizzard – Co.’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 continues to shatter theatrical box office and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell through in dollars. The biggest entertainment launch in history set a new worldwide estimated five-day sell-through record of approximately USD 550mln. (RTRS)